Baby Fava Beans
Inventory, 10 lbs : 0
This item was last sold on : 07/21/09
Seasons/Availability
Baby fava beans are available in the spring.
Description/Taste
Good things deliciously do come in small packages: baby fava beans. Simply a taste of pure perfection, baby fava beans are tenderly coddled in a soft down-like lined puffy pod. Offering a nutty, sweet earthy flavor, these little fava babies offer a melting creamy succulent texture.
Applications
Baby fava beans add their fresh taste to soups and vegetable stews. Puree in extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary and favorite fresh herbs. Marinate and toss in mixed green salads. Pair with shiitake mushrooms, red potatoes, onion, ham, prosciutto or bacon. Serve as an edible bed for sautéed fish. Pair with fresh peas; enhance flavor with thyme. Shell beans and enjoy raw for an unusual hors' d'oeuvre; offer coarse salt, pepper, dry ham and cheese to enhance flavor. Briefly stew beans in oil, cream or butter; lightly season with a sprinkle of savory, thyme or sage. Add beans to pan juices of roasted chicken, pork or veal; spoon over meat entrees just before serving. To store, refrigerate in perforated plastic bag.
Geography/History
Native to Africa and favored in many countries, baby fava beans have only recently become a sought-after culinary item in American cuisine. Fava, which means bean, is named after Fabii, a noble Roman family. A bean in name only, botanically the fava is a type of vetch. Like the bean, the vetch is also a legume but the vetch is a climbing or twining plant that prefers a cool moist climate and is even tolerant to a light frost, unlike the bean that thrives best in the heat of long and nurturing summer days. While fall is the time for harvesting common beans, fava beans are just being planted. These beans are also known as Windsor beans, broad beans and horse beans.
Featured Recipes
Recipes that include Baby Fava Beans. One
is easiest, three is harder.
